Tea cartridge



N ov. s, 1923. 1 1,473,429

| HIRSCHHORN TEMCAH'TRIDGE Original Filed June 11. 1920" ATTORNEY l VII/III Patented Nov. 6, 1923.

UNITED STATES PATE T-"creme.

LOUIS HIRSCHHORN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN MENTS, TO MILLIE PATENT HOLDING CO. INC., OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

TEA- CARTRIDGE.

Application filed June 11, 1920, Serial No. 388,157: Renewed 'April 3, 1923.

T all who-mv itmay con cern Be it known that I, LOUIS I'IIRSCHHORN, a citizen of Austria, and a resident of the city of New York, in the county of Bronx and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tea Cartridges, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to improvements in cartridges for percolating or extracting the flavor from tea-leaves or coffee.

Cartridges of this type usually comprise a closed receptacle, containing a definite quantity of tea-leaves or coffee, just suflicient for a single brewing, the exhausted tealeaves or coffee being wholly withdrawn from the brewing pot after the brewing operation is completed. One type of these cartridges is made in the form of a bag of textile fabric, having its mouth drawn into folds; a closure, in the form of a metal strip or ring, being employed for closing 'the mouth of said bag. In orderto apply this closing ring, rather expensive machinery is needed.

The main object of the present invention is to provide a closure for the container, that is simple in construction, eificient in oper ation, and which can be conveniently applied to the container,

Another object of the invention is to provide a cartridge of the character described, which is capable of manufacture on a commercial scale, or in other words one which is not so difficult to produce as to be beyond the reasonable cost of such a contrivance.

With these and other objects in view, which will more fully appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the combination, arrangement and construction of parts hereinafter described, pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it being understood that many changes may be made in the size and proportion of the several parts and details of construction within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

one of the many possible embodiments of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is an elevation, partly in sectlon,

of a completed tea-cartridge constructed 1 111 accordance with the present invention; and Fig. 2 is a section taken through a simple apparatus for forming and applying the closure. I

In the drawings, the numeral indicates a bag of open-mesh textile fabric, such as for instance cotton, and of a size to contain just sutlicient tea-leaves or cofleefor a single brewing. This bag may be produced in any suitable manner, the tea-leaves or coffee being-placed thereinto after it has been properly sterilized. The mouth of the bag is closed by drawing or gathering the same into folds and applying thereto a 010- sure 11, in the form of a cap. This cap encloses the mouth of the bag, compressing the folds and securely sealing the bag mouth. The cap'serves at the same time to secure to the bag a string 12, to which is attached at its free end a handle 13,]for instance, of card-board. This string serves to permit the handling of the cartridge and also as the means for suspending the same. from the receptacle, such as a tea-pot or coffeepot, in which the extraction is-to take place. The closing cap. is made of vitreous or similar material and is applied to the bag mouth, for instance, as follows: The puckered bag mouth is placed into a mold 14 (Fig. 2), the string 12 having previously been placed again-st the folds around the bag mouth. Into a tank 15 is placed the vitreous or other mass and heated until it melts to liquid state. This tank is provided with a valve-d outlet 16, below which the mold is placed and charged with sufficient material to form the cap 11. The vitreous material is quick setting, so that the capis formed in a comparatively short time. The inner end of the string 12 being embedded in the cap, the latter not only serves to securely close the mouth of the bag but also as the means for attaching the string thereto.

The mold'may be of any suitable type. In the case illustrated in the drawings it is made of two sections 14 and 14", to permit the same to be readily taken apart after the closure has been formed. In brewing tea or coffee with the improved device, the cartridge is taken hold of by its handle 13 and lowered into the brewing rece tacle,'the free end of the string and han le being permitted to hang over the mouth of the receptacle, after. which its cover is put in place. The cover thus holds the outer end of the string and handle readyfor further operation. Into the receptacle is poured a suitable quantity of boiling wa textile fabric having its mouth drawn into folds, and a cap of quick setting plastic material closing said bag mouth, the folded mouth portion of said bag being embedded in the material of said cap.

2. A'device for extracting essence from tea-leaves or coffee, comprising a bag of textile fabric having its mouth drawn into folds, a cap of quick setting plastic material closing said bag mouth, the folded mouth portion of said bag being embedded in the material of said cap, and a suspending string attached by said cap to said bag.

3. A device for extracting essence from tea-leaves or coffee, comprising a bag of textile fabric having its mouth drawn into folds,--a cap of quick setting plastic material closing said bag mouth, and a suspending string having its inner end placed against" the folds of the bag mouth, the folded mouth portion of said bag and the inner end of said string being embedded in the material of said cap.

4. A device for extracting essence from tea-leaves or coffee, comprising a bag of textile fabric having its mouth drawn into folds, and a vitreous cap closing said mouth bag, the folded mouth portion of said bag being embedded in the material of said. cap.

5'. A device for extracting essence from tea-leaves or coffee, comprising a bag of textile fabric having its mouth drawn into folds, a vitreous cap closing said bag mouth, the folded mouth portion of said bag being embedded in the material of said cap, and a string attached by said .cap to said bag.

6. -A device for extracting essence from tea-leaves or coffee, comprising a bag of textile fabric having its mouth drawn into folds, a vitreous cap closing said bag mouth, l

and a suspending string having its inner end placed against the folds of the bag mouth, the folded mouth portion of said bag and the inner end of said string being embedded in the material of said cap.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State ofNew York this 18th day of May, 1920.

' LOUIS HIRSCHHORN. 

